Guardian
by sirensong15
Summary: Life in heaven was, at most, mundane. In all the centuries that Castiel had been alive, it was always the same. The night of January 24, 1979, however, was completely different.


**Hey everyone! This is just a short one-shot I thought of and it just would not leave me alone until it was written. This is also my first Supernatural fanfic, so reviews and feedback are welcome and greatly appreciated. :) Enjoy!**

Life in heaven was not necessarily easy. It could not really even be considered boring, because, after all, it was his home. It was not just his home, however. His brothers and sisters all lived there, watching over all the Earth and the creations of their father. Each angel had a specific job assigned them, and each one followed orders without question. It was required of them; they did not ask one another whether they were happy or not.

Castiel was different from his brothers and sisters. They seemed happy in their assigned tasks, and overall felt their life had meaning. He, on the other hand, always felt that life was very. . . mundane. It was the same throughout all the centuries that he has been in existence. The only time he ever felt anything akin to happiness was when he was just simply observing the humans. They were different from the angels, so it piqued Castiel's curiosity. He had been sent to Earth for many assignments, but had never really fully understood what it was about humankind that had the undying, eternal love of his father.

In the early hours of the morning of January 24, 1979, Castiel was given orders to closely observe and protect his new charge, whose name was Dean Winchester. He was given no other information than that, and it was not needed. As a guardian, his grace was automatically tuned to recognize the soul of his intended charge. Without another thought, a flutter of wings was heard, and he was gone.

The dark-haired angel arrived moments later in the hospital in Lawrence, Kansas. He walked through the childbirth wing of the hospital until he came to the nursery that held the newborns. His grace had led him to this part of the hospital, so Castiel was led to believe that his charge was among the few babies that were in the room. He observed the sleeping babies, silently trying to assess which one his grace had the strongest bond with. Suddenly, one of the nurses brought in a newborn wrapped in blue blankets. She set him down in one of the beds for the babies and walked back out of the room. The baby started to shift, its hand coming loose from the blanket, and slowly began to cry.

Upon hearing the baby's cry, Castiel felt a sudden, hard pull of his grace. The crying grew louder, and the angel's grace reacted in much the same way. Castiel transported himself directly beside the newborn, lifted his arm, extended his index finger, and touched the baby's head. Immediately, the baby stopped crying and opened his eyes, revealing the most beautiful and pure green eyes the angel had ever seen.

"Dean," Castiel spoke in a faint whisper, looking at the baby with reverence and awe. "I am Castiel." The baby, Dean, heard the voice, and immediately snapped his eyes to look into clear blue orbs. The angel could feel Dean's soul, every facet, feeling, and emotion. He removed his finger from Dean's forehead, and rested his arm back to his side. Dean cooed happily at the angel, a grin on his face. Seeing the pure, innocent soul that was his charge smile at him, Castiel couldn't help but smile back at the baby. He knew that Dean would grow to be a strong, just man with the same pure and righteous soul. He knew that the newborn's life would be hard, but somehow Dean would have the strength to face and overcome the future. All of a sudden, the angel heard footsteps approaching the nursery. He looked at Dean again swiftly before turning around and walking away. Seeing the angel was leaving, Dean began to cry loudly, his free hand outstretched toward the retreating angel. Castiel walked back to Dean when his cries became louder than before.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I must leave you now," Castiel said, his fingers resting over Dean's chest, where he could feel the tiny heartbeat. Castiel relinquished a tiny part of his grace to Dean, who calmed quickly. His free hand wrapped around one of Castiel's fingers, and he smiled up at the dark-haired seraph. The angel's heart warmed at the sight. He returned the baby's smile, and moved his other hand to Dean's forehead. "Sleep now, Dean. I will always watch over you." As soon as he said the words, Dean's eyelids closed, and the baby fell asleep. Castiel took one last, long look at his charge before he vanished with a flutter of wings.

_4 years later_

"Dean, get into bed. It's time to go to sleep," Mary said gently to her oldest son, helping him get under the covers of his bed. Once he was under the covers, Mary wrapped her arms around him tightly, with Dean returning the hug with the same fervor. After a few moments, they released each other, and she guided Dean to lie down.

"Goodnight, Mommy," Dean said slowly, yawning. Mary smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Dean. Sweet dreams. An angel is watching over you." Mary got up from Dean's bed, kissed her son on the forehead, turned off the light, and left the room. Dean thought about what his mother said before weariness started to cloud his mind. Before he succumbed to the pull of sleep, one name rang out in his mind.

'_Castiel.' _


End file.
